Officials: Killers dismembered victim before leading police on chase

EDITOR’S NOTE: This report includes information that some readers may find disturbing

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Fort Wayne’s NBC) - Court documents reveal one of the suspects in the gruesome homicide on Sunday had asked the victim for a ride before killing and dismembering him.

Probable cause documents say police saw a black van that was connected to missing man Shane Nguyen on April 25 around 5 a.m. and attempted to stop it before engaging in a short pursuit that ended in a crash.

The three suspects, 21-year-old Matthew Cramer, 20-year-old Jacob D. Carreon-Hamilton, and 20-year-old Cody Clements fled the scene.

Police then searched the van and found trash bags with a dismembered body inside. The coroner identified the victim Monday as 55-year-old Shane Nguyen, who was the subject of a Silver Alert issued on Saturday.

Officers also found receipts listing items like tarps, a hacksaw, hacksaw blades, a plastic tub, two shovels, and a large knife from stores in Goshen.

Police say they then found a photo on social media of Cramer at a storage facility in Fort Wayne. Surveillance video there showed Carreon-Hamilton driving the van with Cramer inside at about 11 p.m. on Saturday, April 24.

Officers obtained a search warrant for the storage unit and found a tarp with blood on it and a large knife along with items belonging to Nguyen.

Cramer was arrested in Lakeville on Monday, April 26, and said he asked Nguyen for a ride from Elkhart to Fort Wayne, saying he planned to kill him before they reached Fort Wayne.

Cramer took Nguyen to the storage unit and said he put Nguyen in a chokehold until he passed out. He said he then pulled him out of the van and hit Nguyen’s head on the concrete before taking him into the storage unit.

He then went to Goshen along with Carreon-Hamilton and Clements where they purchased the above-mentioned items on Saturday with money he stole from Nguyen to “get rid of the body” and returned to the storage unit.

Cramer said they dropped Clements off when he and Carreon-Hamilton returned to Fort Wayne with the van when the police pursuit began.

Detectives interviewed Carreon-Hamilton, who claimed he didn’t know what happened until he was taken to the storage unit.

Cramer is currently charged with murder, resisting law enforcement and abuse of a corpse. Carreon-Hamilton is currently charged with resisting law enforcement, assisting a criminal, and abuse of a corpse.

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